Bholee see naar hoon gaatee bahaar hoon
Posted by: Atul on: July 10, 2026
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
| Blog Day : | 6566 | Post No. : | 20449 |
Today’s song is from a Hindi film made in Madras – Chandirani-1953.
This usual costume film was made by Bharani productions, a banner owned by the film’s director P.Bhanumathi and her producer husband Ramkrishna. Music was by the pair C.R.Subbaraman and his assistant Vishwanathan. The cast of the film included P.Bhanumathi, N.T.Rama Rao (aka NTR), S.V.Ranga Rao, Agha, Amarnath (Bharadwaj), A.Nageshwar Rao (ANR), Miss Tulsi, Hemalatha and others. The film was made in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu simultaneously.
Till 1947, Hindi films were made mostly in Bombay,Lahore,Calcutta, Kolhapur and Poona.Most studios were located in these cities.South Indian language films were made mainly in Madras and Bangla films were made in Calcutta and Dhaka. The Partition in 1947 changed the picture completely.Wholesale polarisation took place.Producers of Hindi films had to flee from Lahore,leaving everything behind them and some artistes from Bombay left for Pakistan. Thus,after Partition,the exclusive centre for production of Hindi films was only Bombay. By 1950 things settled in India and Pakistan Film Industry.
Telugu film producers shifted to Hyderabad, Kannada films to Bangalore and Malayalam to Kerala. Madras,however, still made films other than Tamil,like Telugu, Hindi etc. But now it was only Remakes of successful Tamil films or dubbed films.The 50s saw many Hindi films dubbed from southern languages(Read Tamil/Telugu).Initially,they were Mythological,Fantasy or costume films.In the 60s,however, even social films were remade.
Film production in Madras is very methodical and professional.They make films as per plans and in planned time.For this reason,in the 60s to 80s many Hindi film actors volunteered to to make films in south.The producers in south too had their favourites.In the Music area,there were,Ravi,C.Ramchandra or Madan Mohan,for lyrics and story,Rajinder krishna and Pradeep,and preferred actors were Jeetendra,Rajendrakumar,Sunil Dutt and Mehmood.
Though Polarisation took place in film production,the attraction to come to Bombay and work here continued.Artistes from various centres still came to Bombay.
The biggest contribution came from Bengal,in music,direction and acting areas.Artistes from South tried their hand with Hindi films,either by Remade or dubbed films.Thus the greatest south actors like Sivaji Ganeshan, Gemini Ganeshan, M G Ramchandran,N T Rama Rao,A.Nageshwar Rao,Jailalita,Janaki,Susheela, Bhanumathi, Prem Nazir of the older gen and Rajanikanth,Kamal Hasan and Chiranjeevi from the next Gen were seen in Hindi films. Only Dr.Rajkumar,the Kannada Superstar never worked in Hindi films.In fact,except for just 1 Telugu film, Sri Kalahasti Mahatmyam-1954, Dr.Rajkumar never worked in any other language film.
In the music department also,many composers like K.Narayan rao, S.Rajeshwar rao,C R Subramanyam,E Shankar, R Sudershanam,Ramesh Naidu,Adi Narayanrao,Vishwanath-Rammurthy,Lingappa etc worked in Hindi films. There was one name from South,which was so famous,but it is surprising that he too gave music to Hindi Films.His name was Ghantasala.
The major difficulty for southern artists was speaking in Hindi. Due to this, they hesitated to work in Hindi films and instead, preferred dubbing their hit films in Hindi, released them on All India basis and hoped for becoming famous. Initially, in the period of the 50’s and 60’s decades, there was a spate of dubbed films, as well as some remade films in Hindi. Later on and now of course only hit films are remade in Hindi. The count of dubbed films has gone down considerably. These days, I find that even hit films of Hindi are also remade in southern languages.
Since the times when the adventurous S.S.Vasan-Producer, Director and Owner of Gemini Studios, made his film ” Chandralekha”- in Hindi in 1948 on a mammoth scale (with over 600 prints of the Hindi version for simultaneous release on All India basis on 24th December 1948), the Southern film industry woke up. After the film Chandralekha was successful, Vasan started making remakes of his Tamil hit films in Hindi one after another. When other filmmakers of the South saw Vasan busy doing this and visiting his bank very often with several bags full of money to deposit, they too joined the bandwagon !
Thus , the entire decades of the 50’s and the 60’s saw many films from South, in the form of Remakes of Southern Hit films, Dubbed or shot at Madras for the All India audience of Hindi films. After Vasan’s Gemini, A.V.Meiyyappan’s AVM, Nagi Reddy’s Vauhini Studios and L.V.Prasad’s Prasad productions gave many films, made with all Southern, all Bombay or a mixed cast of actors. Many major Heroes of South secretly nurtured a desire to shine in the Hindi belt. They joined this race. Actors like M.G.Ramchandran (MGR), N.T.Tama Rao (NTR), A.Nageshwar Rao (ANR), Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan etc., actresses like Bhanumathy, Jayalalitha, Jamuna etc and character artistes like Relangi, S.V.Ranga Rao etc appeared in Hindi films. ( A very loooong list of such remakes and dubbed films is available on IMDB ). Even today many Southern Hit films are remade or dubbed in Hindi and the addition is, many Hindi Hits are also remade in Southern languages. The West Bengal Film Industry which actually led this trend in the 30’s and the 40’s has fallen way behind now.
Since the 1950’s decade, every south artist’s dream was to shine in the Hindi film industry, because Hindi films meant All India fame and an honour. In this dream many actresses achieved success, but comparatively actors were almost nowhere. The only name perhaps could be taken was that of actor Ranjan and few more. However, Jamuna, Vaijayantimala, Hema malini, Ragini, Padmini, Rekha and many more actresses from South became famous in Hindi films. Likewise when the Tamil and Telugu industry became a big one, many actresses like Khushbu etc and actors like Sayaji Shinde etc from the Hindi land became famous in South films. Somehow more males could not achieve this.
One of the major problems for south Indian artists is the Hindi language. The actresses like Vaijayantimala, Hema Malini and Rekha became experts, but Southern actors could not cross this hurdle. N.T.Ramarao ( 28-5-1923 to 18-1-1996) tried hard. He featured in 23 Hindi films which were mostly dubbed films barring few. One film Brahmarshi Vishwamitra-1991 was even directed by him. Sivaji Ganeshan (1-10-1927 to 21-7-2001) a winner of the prestigious ” Dadasaheb Phalke Award” in 1996, also featured in 19 Hindi films. Gemini Ganesan-real name R.Ganesan ( 17-11-1920 to 22-3-2005) was actress Rekha’s father. He acted in 24 Hindi films.
Film Chandirani-1953 was an ordinary costume film, having a routine story of king, Queen, evil vazir, twin children etc. The story of this film was….
King Veerasimha was attracted to a court dancer during his birthday celebrations. She delivers twin girls after their union. The Senani, (major) Prachandudu, who also likes her, kills the dancer and imprisons the King. The minister saves one of the twins and sends her to the forest. Knowing this, Prachandudu kills him and takes charge of the kingdom. The other twin stays in the kingdom. Champarani in the kingdom, and Chandirani in the forest, grow up as two different personalities.
The son of the minister Kishore and Champarani love each other. Mukund is the son of Prachandudu. Kishore goes to the forest and learns about Chandirani, and that she loves him. With the help of Mukund, Chandirani enters the fort and meets her father. She learns about the love between Champarani and Kishore. Meanwhile, Prachandudu arrests Kishore. Chandirani attacks the kingdom with the help of the people. During the conflict, Chandirani sacrifices her life to eliminate Prachandudu, before dying she unites Champarani and Kishore.
Heroine of this film was P. Bhanumathy. P. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna was born on 7 September 1925 (7 September 1925 – 24 December 2005) in Doddavaram village of Prakasam district, near Ongole, Andhra Pradesh. She was the third child to Saraswatamma and Bommaraju Venkata Subbaiah. She grew up watching her father perform in various stage shows. Her father, Venkata Subbayya, was a lover of classical music and trained her in music from an early age. Bhanumathi entered the film industry in 1939, and acted in over 100 films in Telugu and Tamil. She was also called Ashtavadhani by the film industry people as she was a writer, actor, director, producer, singer, music director, editor and studio owner. She also had a good knowledge of astrology and philosophy. She is regarded as the first female super star of Telugu cinema.
She made her debut in Telugu cinema in 1939 as Kalindi (a 13 years old girl who is forced to marry an old man and ended her life by committing suicide) in Vara Vikrayam (Telugu), directed by C. Pullayya. She acted in Malathi Madhavam, Dharma Patni and Bhaktimala. Her first popular film was Krishna Prema. In 1953, she made her directorial debut with Chandirani (made simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi). Her last film was made in 1998, entitled Pelli Kanuka. She got the National Award for the film and also for performances in movies Anthasthulu and Palnati Yudham (1964) she received National Awards (Rashtrapati Award). She is the last recipient of Rashtrapati Award.
Due to her rift with Aluri Chakrapani, she left her role in Missamma and Miss Mary movie (Initially Bhanumathi was shot for some scenes in the movie before being replaced by Savitri ) but after the release of the movie she watched and commented that “she lost a wonderful role but industry gained a talented actress like savitri” which showed her sportiveness and encouragement towards new actors. Due to clash with Aluri Chakrapani, she produced a satirical movie on him titled Chakrapani which was a huge hit and became a classic in Tollywood. For this movie she also worked as music director.
Apart from being a fine actress, she was also a talented musician. She was adept in both Carnatic and Hindustani music. She gave voice to her songs despite it being the norm to use playback singers for actors. Some of her songs are still popular in Telugu; and in Tamil. She also provided music to a lot of her films.
During her later years, she served on various movie related organizations. She was a Member of the State Film Awards Committee for two years. She was also a Visiting Professor at the Film Institute for one year. She was a Member of Children Film Society for 5 years, from 1965 to 1970. In India, she was the first and the only woman to have owned a film studio and the first woman to have directed a movie simultaneously in three languages. She is first south Indian actress to receive Padma Awards
Bhanumathi was also a talented writer with a number of short stories to her credit. Her autobiography Nalo Nenu was published in Telugu and later, released in English as Musings. Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy awarded her as the best short story writer for her popular short stories “Attagari Kathalu”. She was a Member of Lalit Kala Academy for 5 years, and Sahitya Academy, Andhra Pradesh for 10 years. She served as Director and Principal of the Tamil Nadu Government Music College.
She was an eminent social worker who was closely associated with a number of Social Service Organizations. She was the founder member and treasurer of the Madras branch of Altrusa International Inc., Chicago for a lifetime starting from 1963. She was a life member of the ‘Red Cross Society’. She established an educational institution named as “Dr. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna Matriculation School” at Saligramam, Chennai providing free education to the poor.
During the shooting of the film Krishna Prema (1943), she met P. S. Ramakrishna Rao (1918–1986), an assistant director for that film. He was a film producer, director and editor of Telugu and Tamil Films. The couple married on 8 August 1943 and have one son, Bharani. Later they launched a popular production company, Bharani Pictures, in their son’s name. She died at the age of 80 years in Chennai,on 24-12-2005.
In Hindi, she acted in 8 films,directed 2 films and sang 12 songs in 4 films. ( Based and adapted from nett4you,Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, South Indian Stars, and my notes ).
Here is A song from this film, sung by P.Bhanumathy. Enjoy….
Song- Bholee see naar hoon gaatee bahaar hoon (Chandirani)(1953) Singer-P Bhanumathi, Lyricist-Vishwamitra Adil, MD-C R Subbaraman-Vishwanathan
Lyrics:
Bholee see naar hoongaatee bahaar hoon
aaja o baalma
teree pukaar hoon
bholee see naar hoon
gaatee bahaar hoon
aaja o baalma
teree pukaar hoon
bholee see naar hoon
kya mila mujhe naina mila ke
le gaya mera dil tu chura ke
kya mila mujhe naina mila ke
le gaya mera dil tu chura ke
chupke chupke aa jaa sajanwa
chupke chupke aa jaa sajanwa
kar de waapas dil pachhta ke
ho o o
bholee see naar hoon
gaatee bahaar hoon
bewafa hai saara zamaana
aana balma choree se aana
bewafa hai saara zamaana
aana balma choree se aana
chhotee see ye dil kee kahaanee
chhotee see ye dil kee kahaanee
kaahe ko ban jaaye fasaana
ho o o o
bholee see naar hoon
gaatee bahaar hoon
aaja o baalma
teree pukaar hoon
bholee see naar hoon
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